Syria Talks Unravel after US Military Aid to Armed Groups

Local Editor

The UN failed to break a deadlock at Syrian negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday, with talks interrupted.

After a difficult morning meeting on the fourth day of talks, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said he had decided to cancel afternoon talks and reconvene the parties for "what I hope will be a better session" on Wednesday morning.
"Nobody is walking out, nobody is running away," Brahimi told reporters after cutting short a fourth day of talks aimed at ending the bloody war that has claimed 130,000 lives.

The international envoy stressed that neither party bore the blame for his decision to cancel Tuesday's afternoon session after morning talks remained stuck.
"We have not achieved any breakthrough, but we are still at it, and this is good enough as far as I'm concerned," Brahimi said, adding that he was hoping for "a better session tomorrow [Wednesday] morning".

Meanwhile, the Syrian delegation harshly condemned of a report that the US Congress had secretly approved funding for weapons deliveries to Syria armed groups.
"I believe that they [Americans] are serious and they want this track to be successful... There is no doubt concerning that," he said.
A Syrian statement said "the United States has made a decision to resume arming terrorist groups in Syria."
"This decision can only be understood as a direct attempt to obstruct any political solution in Syria through dialogue," it said.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad said that showed Washington "is not interested in the success" of the talks.
"This proves again that the United States is not interested in the success of this process, and we believe the US has to desist and stop its claims that it is interested in the success of this conference," he told reporters following the meeting.

The UN refused to comment on reports of the decision by the US Congress to approve the delivery of small arms to Syrian opposition, but Brahimi told the Itar-Tass news agency that he had not seen an official statement on the issue by Washington.
In the meantime, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said that arming the opposition translates into arming terrorists.
"New supplies of lethal and non-lethal weapons to the Syrian conflict area lay groundwork for supporting terrorists," Lavrov told journalists in Brussels on Tuesday where Russia-European Union summit was being held.

On the humanitarian level, the governor of Homs province said on Tuesday that UN officials are trying to negotiate with opposition fighters to allow the evacuation of civilians, as security concerns and al-Qaeda linked cells hinder the operation. At the same time, Joueijati accused the government of not allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Homs, which has been under siege for almost two years.

Syria's al-Mikdad denied the government's role in delaying the delivery of aid, saying that Damascus needs "assurances that the aid will not go to armed and terrorist groups in the city."

In the meantime, Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, confirmed that aid vehicles are on standby.
"We need that all security conditions be met to allow this interagency convoy to go," said Byrs.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team